Ketchum is a global public relations firm, offering marketing, branding and corporate communications services. Founded in 1923 by George Ketchum as a Pittsburgh-based advertising company which later evolved to include a public relations practice, the firm currently has 23 offices and 46 affiliates and associations in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. Ketchum covers five global practice areas: brand marketing, corporate communications, healthcare, food and nutrition, and technology. Since 1996, Ketchum is a subsidiary of the Omnicom Group. On June 16, 2009, Ketchum announced a merger with Pleon based in Düsseldorf, Germany and is known as "Ketchum Pleon" in Europe.
Contents |
Ketchum has worked for some of the nation's largest corporations and industry trade groups. Over the years, the company has worked for such companies as Chase, FedEx, Delta Air Lines, Kodak, Macy's, Philips, Roche, World Economic Forum, Hewlett-Packard, Geek Squad, IBM, Genographic Project, Wendy's, and the California Raisin Advisory Board. Ray Kotcher currently serves as CEO of Ketchum, Inc. Ketchum's official facebook page can be found at facebook.com/Ketchum
Ketchum has fulfilled contracts totalling over $100 million for the United States federal government. These include work for the Department of Education and the Internal Revenue Service; for the U.S. Army, to "reconnect the Army with the American people" and boost recruiting around its 225th birthday; and for the Department of Health and Human Services, to "change the face of Medicare," promote long-term health care planning, encourage preventive care, and present home care information. Large contract increases for Ketchum since 2003 mirror the PR spending boost for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, suggesting that Ketchum's Medicare work may be more extensive than is currently known.
Ketchum Inc and its subsidiary GPlus Europe are among the PR agencies used by the Russian government to tout the alleged benefits of working in partnership with Russia.[1] The Russian government reportedly spends millions on these operations. GPlus specializes in recruiting former EU officials and eminent journalists. Gregor Kreuzhuber, who leads the company's pro-Gazprom operations, was previously European Commission industry spokesman. Peter Witt is a retired German deputy ambassador to the EU before he was hired by GPlus. Angus Roxburgh, another GPlus worker, covered the war in Chechnya for the BBC.[2]
In October 2009 the EUObserver reported of a new pro-Russia campaign in Brussels.[3]
The U.S. Department of Education has been accused of breaking Federal Law by paying commentators to publish articles and appear on talk shows promoting the agenda of the Bush Administration. The use of taxpayers money for this purpose is in violation of U.S. law and has been the subject of several Congressional investigations which reached their peak during the 2004 election battle. Some government reports have exonerated Ketchum and others strongly criticized the actions of the department and Ketchum. Further, Ketchum was strongly criticized by the public relations industry for its inept handling of this crisis. [4]
In 2004, Ketchum produced a controversial series of prepackaged news stories for HHS that featured actors posing as journalists and touted drug benefits. The ads aired on at least 40 television stations and violated a federal propaganda ban because they did not inform viewers that they came from the government, the Government Accountability Office stated.
According to HHS officials, Ketchum got the new work because it already had a multiyear contract to provide public relations services for the department. [5]
From August 23rd to 27th 2011, Ketchum organized dinners for ConAgra at a fictitious West Village restaurant called Sotto Terra, in order to promote some of their client's processed food products. The event was hosted by chef George Duran and food industry analyst Phil Lempert; New York city area food bloggers were invited and told food being served was prepared by chef Duran but were served ConAgra frozen foods instead. Ketchum filmed each dinner and hoped to use video footage for promotional purposes.
Guests were only informed of the true nature of the food being served at the end of the meal, their response being mainly negative (either due to perceived duplicity or being presented processed foods while expecting higher quality ingredients) and expressed these on their blogs[6][7]; many of the guest refused to sign a release allowing the use of footage from the event.
Faced with the reaction, director of corporate communications Jackie Burton issued an apology, saying “But we also understand that there were people who were disappointed and we’re sorry — we apologize that they felt that way.” ConAgra's senior director of public relations and social media Stephanie Moritz later said “It was never our intention to put any bloggers or their guests in an uncomfortable position and for that we are sorry,” also offering reimbursement for any incurred expense to the attendees. [8]
